


How to Pick up a Goth in Five Simple Steps

by stuck_inmyemophase



Category: Nowhere Boys (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, romcom, teen and up for swearing, two idiot gay boys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-01
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:27:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26239348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stuck_inmyemophase/pseuds/stuck_inmyemophase
Summary: After making a deal with Phoebe, Felix agrees to work in her new Mexican Food Truck based on the promise she'd let him read her Book of Shadows. Not long after, he starts to get bothered by pretty boy Sam Conte.thenextbigdisappointment on tumblr had this brilliant idea and has let me write a fic for it!
Relationships: Andy Lau/Jake Riles, Mia/Ellen O'Donnell, Sam Conte/Felix Ferne
Comments: 9
Kudos: 87





	How to Pick up a Goth in Five Simple Steps

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thenextbigdisappointment](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=thenextbigdisappointment).



> henextbigdisappointment on tumblr had this brilliant idea and has let me write a fic for it! I've had a blast writing this and I can only hope it's good. Thank you for letting me write this fic I really hope you like it!

“Kid, this is the fifth day in a row you have bothered me without even buying anything!” Phoebe hissed. “Buy something and go home. I’ve told you once and I will not tell you again: I’ve given up on magic.”

Felix bounced his leg impatiently at the side of Phoebe’s new Mexican Food Truck. There was a distinct, not exactly alluring aroma coming from the truck that caused him to wrinkle his nose and, if he inhaled at the wrong time, his eyes to water. Determined, he stepped closer to the truck, placing his hands on the counter and leaning in. Phoebe scowled at him. Drawing back, she began to busy herself with small trivialities. “Listen,” he begged, “I know you haven’t gotten rid of your book of shadows. Can you at least let me look at that?”

“Go home,” Phoebe said dismissively. She spun around again and pointed in any direction that was away from her, “You’re scaring away my customers.” Felix looked around at the empty street and back at her, hands splayed out and one eyebrow raised triumphantly. Phoebe scoffed, “I said go.”

Felix groaned in frustration. “I’ll work for you,” Felix begged. “Just let me look at it. I need it, you don’t understand.”

“No, of course I don’t,” she said, her voice honey-thick with sarcasm. Phoebe sighed and rolled her eyes. She rubbed her temples in the way only a very stressed adult would, a very stressed adult that was very tired from being harassed by some teenager she didn’t even know, then she cut her hands at him. “Okay,” she said sharply, Felix bounced on the balls of his feet, her voice commanded his ears, “I will give you a job - at _reduced pay_ \- and if you’re good maybe, _maybe_ , I will let you look at the book of shadows. Deal?” She raised her eyebrows. Felix could tell she was set by the tone of her voice and her eyes held a fiery glare that dared him to challenge her. There was no negotiation, he nodded.

“Be here tomorrow,” she shooed him away with both of her hands, “now scram.”

 **Step One - Show Off**  
Working in Phoebe’s truck wasn’t as bad as Felix thought. There wasn’t much to learn and her nachos gained a poor reputation after the grand opening so he didn’t have that many customers day to day. Once he got used to the imposing smell of the truck’s food he found he could enjoy the peace (and anything was better than staying holed up in his bedroom all afternoon). Contrary to popular belief, Felix actually liked the sun, he just didn’t have anywhere to go to enjoy it, and for about a week he was able to sit with his eyes shut soaking in the warmth and tasting the breeze. But apparently pretty boy Sam Conte had chosen the street facing the truck as his new skating hang out.

It bothered Felix to no end. The grating sound of wheels on concrete, the clacking noise whenever his board would hit the ground after some trick, the dumb smile and looks he kept throwing his way, like he was checking if Felix was watching. He didn’t even buy anything! Felix couldn’t wrap his head around what the hell Sam wanted with him.

Sam whipped his head around after another kickflip. He watched Felix jerk his head away and felt a rush of butterflies that caused him to wobble on his board. He flushed with embarrassment and attempted to play it off by jumping on the curb. Sam skated back and forth for a while, enjoying the feeling on the ground moving beneath his feet. He shut his eyes, feeling the breeze like a warm hand cupping his cheeks. Just before he left Felix’s line of sight he turned on his board and drifted by again.

He wasn’t sure when it had started exactly. He knew that he thought Felix was cool, despite what Jake would shout at him across the hall, and maybe that developed into a little crush. Maybe it was when Jake pushed him into Felix a little too roughly and they both toppled to the ground pretty pathetically, a mess of arms and legs. Sam pushed himself up and found his face inches from the goth’s and it was as if he had turned to mush. His face felt hot and his heart skipped, he couldn’t seem to move. All of a sudden he was being pushed off and Jake pulled him up laughing, patting him on the back and apologising. All Sam could think was _how hadn’t he noticed that before_? Ellen gave him a strong glare as he watched the two walk away, dumbfounded.

And now he was messing up tricks on an empty street in front of a failing Mexican Food Truck.

It was a nice day. Not too hot and the sun was angled nicely so Felix could avoid being blinded easily. School had been relatively quiet in terms of bullying and it was his best day: no Science plus he had English and Music as his last two periods. It was always a bonus to end on those subjects so he relaxed in Phoebe’s truck feeling slightly elated. He was well and prepared to read a book for the next few hours until Phoebe came back to close up, relishing in the silence. Recently though, a mosquito had been bothering him. And at the oh so familiar sound of wheels on concrete Felix let out an exasperated whine.

“It must be some new bullying tactic!” he complained. Ellen snorted.

“You couldn’t have showered before inviting me over?”

Felix ignored the comment. “He keeps coming over looking all pretty and distracting and shit, trying to make me mess up,” He threw his hands in the hair in frustration and fell backwards onto his bed. “That or he just wants to show off how much better his life is than mine,” he spat, bitter. He folded his arms to his chest and huffed like a child.

Ellen held back a laugh. “So you think he’s pretty?” she mocked.

Felix sputtered, shoving himself upright. “No!” he defended.

“Yes you do!” Ellen laughed. “You said he’s pretty _and_ distracting.”

Felix threw a pillow at her. She gasps and drops a dead stare. Felix realised his mistake too late as she grabbed the corner of the pillow and beat him with it. Helpless under her pillow fury Felix fell back down on the bed laughing, pushing his arms up in some weak attempt to defend himself, begging for mercy. Ellen threw the pillow on top of him in one final hit and rose from the bed.

“Take a shower Felix, seriously,” she said with finality. “And just ignore that poser.”

“I’m trying,” he said. Looking up at her stood he added “are you going?” with dejection.

“I’ve got to go home for dinner,” she said halfway out the door. “See you tomorrow.”

Felix squeezed his eyes shut, pinched his nose, and sighed.

 **Step Two - Partner up in Class**  
It didn’t bother Sam that none of his actual friends took art with him. In fact, he preferred to sit and draw rather than muck about like in other classes, so it suited him well. Plus there were people he liked enough to chat to if he got bored, and it’s not like anyone would turn him down. Everyone loved him!

“I know you’re all working on your own projects,” their art teacher called over the noise. A hush fell on the class, “but today I’d like us to try something a little basic. I want you all to pair up and draw each other's portraits,” the class groaned. Mrs Smith waved her hands at them. “Pair up!” she said.

There was only a bit of shuffling of chairs. Most people turned immediately to a friend next to them, others pulled their stools to the opposite side of their mate to get a better view. Someone asked Sam if he wanted to partner with them but he shook his head as he scooped up his sketchbook and made a beeline for the back of the classroom. His stomach was jumping with nerves and Sam could feel his fingers getting jittery but he pressed on. He dropped his sketchbook in front of Felix, who jumped.

“Let’s pair up,” Sam said with a grin. Felix looked at him skeptically and said nothing. Taking that as “not a no” Sam dragged a stool over and sat himself confidently across from him. While Sam was debating between pencil or pen, Felix leapt swiftly from his seat and returned with a box of charcoal. Without a word he began to scribble on the page. Sam tried to look but Felix pulled his knees up and rested the sketchbook on his legs. Sam couldn’t tell if he was looking at him to know what to draw or if he was glaring at him to dare to try to peek again.

They ended up spending most of the hour in silence. Sam couldn’t help the feeling of his cheeks flushing or the prickle at the back of his neck whenever Felix looked at him. Hopelessly, he found it difficult to look at Felix himself. He’d either be stuck with a quick glance or he’d get lost staring at him for far too long. At the very least, he had a good excuse to stare to Felix, and a pretty good drawing of him too.

Sam was so engrossed in drawing the tangles in Felix’s hair that he jumped when Felix spoke.

“Holy shit that’s good.”

Sam looked up eagerly. Felix had a bit of pink dusting his cheeks and he was staring at Sam’s drawing. Sam had gone with the pen in the end, he liked the risk of it, and he thought that might channell Felix’s portrait well. The lines were nice and loose and took over the page. Sam was erasing his pencil sketch as he went so there was a cool effect of pen vs pencil Sam was half-tempted to keep. It was his favourite pen. Cheap and yet the ink ran smoothly so it didn’t stop or gather where he didn’t want it to. Looking at it, Felix had to guess he was taking some liberties with how nice he looked.

“Thanks,” Sam said, almost too excitedly. He dropped his pen clumsily and shot across the desk to catch it before it rolled off. Felix flinched away from him, clutching his sketchbook protectively.

“My mum’s an artist,” Sam recovered, fumbling with the pen inbetween his fingers, “she taught me.”

“I guess you’ve got to be good at some stuff,” Felix said.

“Hey I’m good at loads of stuff,” Sam said, laughter bubbling under his voice.

Felix smiled with him. “I know,” he said. “I see you skateboarding all the time.” He placed heavy emphasis on the words.

Sam beamed. “You like it, then?”

Felix didn’t respond, only picked up another piece of charcoal and went back to his work. Sam was almost hopping in his seat; he was so giddy. He leaned over his paper in an attempt to hide how pleased he was and stared at the knot in Felix’s hair.

Felix did smile when Sam said bye. His smile was small but toothy and a bit lopsided. It was really pretty. Sam left that class with a skip in his step and a real grin plastered on his face.

He knew Felix was working that afternoon too so he wanted to head straight for the street in order to skate around a bit more. Jake offered to hang out after-school and while Sam loved to hang with him, he was bouncing around impatiently the entire time, clinging to his board and checking his phone constantly to see if he had time left before the truck closed. Jake noticed it and ignored it, assuming Sam was just itching to skate, and continued to carry their conversation.

“Bates is making me take extra classes,” he complained.

“Yeah?” Sam said absent mindedly.

“Yeah. He’s making me go to Andy’s tutoring sessions in the library! And on a Saturday too!”

“Andy Lau?” Sam asked. He’d heard that Bates had picked the kid as a tutor because he excelled in classes. Sam didn’t think it was tutoring students in his own year though, he thought he’d be helping year 7s. Sam didn’t vocalise this, judging by Jake's face, it wasn't something he needed to hear.

Jake kicked a rock across the street. It bounced on the pavement and shattered to dust. “It’s just embarrassing,” he admitted glumly. “Plus it’s not like I care about Science.” Sam nodded. He checked the time again, leg bouncing. He really wanted to try talking to Felix today. Maybe he could order something and try a pickup line? He began to flesh out a few possibilities in his head, only half listening to Jake.

Jake looked annoyed. He exhaled sharply out of his nose and kicked another pebble, harder this time. It bounced off of a car and tumbled back to him. Jake aimed for the same spot, finding exhilaration in the clang of rock hitting metal and the lack of morals for hitting some random guy's car with it. He kicked it again. “Listen mate, I gotta go,” he said loudly, jaw clenched. “Uh, mum’s making my favourite, so…” he looked at Sam expectantly.

Sam met his eyes and flashed a smile. “Yeah okay,” he said. He pocketed his phone quickly and dropped his board to the ground. “See you,” he said and he propelled himself from the ground. Jake balled his hands into fists before letting them go and trailed back home.

Sam just about barrelled into Felix. He wanted to do a trick, something like a heelflip, but Felix was stepping out of the truck and Sam panicked and veered left mid jump, crashing into him. His board skidded across the road and he landed on the ground with a heavy thud. He had almost forgotten the sound of a helmet hitting the pavement.

Felix hissed as hot coffee showered his chest. Sam sort of laughed as he sprang up from the ground but his face fell as soon as he saw Felix.

Felix was fuming. He threw the paper cup to the ground and pulled the edge of his shirt away from his chest. His hands were shaking. He glowered at sam.

“Are you kidding?” he snapped.

Sam sucked his teeth. “Oh shit, Felix-”

“Is this why you keep skating around here?” he yelled. “To spill coffee on my favourite fucking shirt?”

Sam stammered about half of a “no”. He could barely get a word out.

“Get a hobby!” Felix snapped. He pushed past him and stormed off down the street.

“Skating is my hobby,” Sam defended weakly. He collected his board and looked up at Phoebe, who had stopped working to watch the show. 

“That went well,” she said, clearly amused. Sam muttered something rude and stalked off, cursing himself.

“It’s definitely a bullying tactic,” Felix texted Ellen. His fingers moved across the screen furiously. “He just rammed into me.” Felix’s feet fell on the path about as quickly as he typed as he stomped home.

Ellen responded with a simple “Ouch” as Felix finally made it to his room. He picked up something from his floor and threw it across the space. And Felix was stupid enough to think Sam was trying to be nice. Felix was stupid enough to engage with him. He was probably making fun of him then too.

He balled up his shirt and threw towards the door where it hit the wall with a wet slap, he’d have to ask his mum if it was salvageable, and threw himself onto his bed. He doubted he could save it. It was the kind of shirt with a cool print that you had to wash inside out else it would peel off. A band shirt, it fit him well and he loved the texture. He’d bought it right before he was meant to go to his first concert with Ellen, they were so excited. He never ended up going, the memory left a sour taste in his mouth. Now it was soaked in coffee. And so was he.

His phone buzzed again. “What kind of bullying is that?” Ellen had sent. “They’re seriously running out of ideas.”

 **Step Three - Tip Well with a Pickup Line**  
Ellen gave Sam the middle finger when he passed her in the hall the following Monday. This wasn’t unusual, in fact it was a regular occurence, but Sam took it as a bad sign nonetheless. He needed to apologise to Felix but he couldn’t get near him. Everywhere Sam went he suddenly disappeared. Sam just about gave up when he sat down for lunch.

“How come you’ve been hanging around that weird lady’s food truck?” Jake asked bluntly. “Apparently you haven’t been to the skate park in weeks.”

Mia looked up from her homework sheet, curious. Sam felt himself starting to sweat. “Uh yeah, it’s just nice you know?” he lied. “Sometimes it’s nice to skate on my own for a bit.”

Jake scoffed. “Sam “show off” Conte wants to skate on his own? Yeah right.”

“Seriously?” Sam huffed. “Come on, I’m not a show off.”

“I know what this is,” Mia said matter-of-factly. “You’re trying to show off for someone _else_ aren’t you? He did that to me for, like, a month before he actually asked me out.”

Jake’s face split into malicious glee. “Yeah I remember that! You kept insisting you just liked skating around her street for ages!”

“That’s ridiculous!” Sam defended. “Who would I even like there anyway?”

“Not that freak Ferne,” Jake said dismissively. Mia smacked him in the arm but Jake was too focused on Sam burying his face in his hands to notice. “Shit, Sam. Seriously?” he spoke with a laugh.

“Shut up,” Sam moaned. Jake laughed louder. “Jake!”

“Mate, that’s hilarious!”

“It’s not!”

“Leave him alone, Jake,” Mia said sharply.

Jake laughed again but this time it was more in defence of himself. “What?” he said like he didn’t know. “Sam actually has a thing for the weird goth guy,” he threw out the word “goth” like it was the most bizarre concept. Mia frowned. 

“I thought you were gonna tone down the bullying,” she argued. “You know, because you’re not so crush free yourself.”

“It’s not bullying it’s just fact,” despite, or perhaps because he recognised he was on the wrong side, Jake was still trying to make light of his words. His face had turned pink at Mia’s pointed comment and sulked in his seat, chin on his chest. He sighed, defeated. “You actually like him?” he asked, grin dropping.

“Yeah,” Sam said quietly, briefly pulling his fingers away from his face. “I messed up though. I spilled coffee on him.” Jake patted his bicep.

“Okay mate. Let’s figure out a plan.”

\---

“Guess what I brought today,” Phoebe said when she spotted Felix trudging up to her truck. He had his head hung low (well, lower than usual) and was dragging his feet (slower than usual). He dumped his bag in the truck with a heavy sigh.

Felix wrinkled his nose. “Another menu idea?” he asked cautiously.

She lifted a leather bound book from her bag, Felix perked up instantly. He jogged the next few steps and grabbed it out of her hands. He held it carefully. It was old, he could tell the first time he saw it. The leather was peeling at the wedges and some of the pages were torn or had curled up at the edges from frequent use. It felt heavy in his hands, he bounced it a couple times, feeling the weight. Finally able to get a closer look, it seemed like the leather was lightened because of too much sun exposure. The back was still it’s original tan. Phoebe watched him closely. “I won’t drop it,” Felix said.

“You can read it today when you’re not busy,” she said. “If anything happens to it,” she pointed an accusatory finger towards him, “I will kill you.”

Felix smiled. “Thanks Phoebe.”

“I only brought it to cheer you up,” she said dismissively. “Not because I care,” she corrected herself, “you just can’t go acting all miserable around the customers.”

Felix gave her a knowing look but chose not to say anything, flicking through the first few pages. Phoebe left just as someone else came running up. Felix only had to look up for a second for his face to fall to a glower.

“What do you want?”

“Um, Mexican Soda?” Sam asked. Felix snapped the book shut. He moved over to where Sam couldn’t see him and opened what sounded suspiciously like store bought lemonade. He dumped a plastic cup in front of him and dropped a straw and tiny umbrella into it ungracefully. They floated sadly in the soda.

“Two fifty.”

Sam fished a tenner out of his pocket. It was Mia who told him this trick. When Felix handed him his change Sam slid the fiver back over. “Um, a tip.”

Felix watched him skeptically and slid the note into his pocket. “Thanks,” he said slowly. Sam nodded, grabbed his soda, and darted away.

He returned again the next time Felix was working. And the next. And the next. Sometimes skating, sometimes not. Always stopping by for a soda and tipping Felix another fiver. By the fifth time he came Felix had already ordered another shirt.

This time it wasn’t the skateboarding that was annoying, but the damn talking. All of a sudden Sam would not leave him alone.

“Pickup lines Oscar! Pickup lines! They’re not even good!”

The first time Phoebe witnessed it she turned red from laughing so hard. She had to clutch the side of the van to hold herself up, wiping tears from her face as she went. 

“Hey I’m gonna need a cold soda, cause you’re really hot.”

“Do you know CPR? Because you took my breath away.”

“Did you fall from Heaven?” (Felix proudly remembered responding “no I crawled up from Hell” to this one. It still made him laugh)

And worst of all: “You come here often?”

Oscar burst out laughing.

“He’s mocking me!” Felix said, dragging a hand down his face in despair. “I just want some peace!”

Ellen snickered. “You ever consider that he actually likes you?”

“Don’t you make fun too,” Felix threw a sock at her. “Obviously he doesn’t.”

“I don’t know Felix. I mean, he’s spent about thirty quid on you. Seems like a bit much for bullying,” Oscar pointed out. “And you like him.”

“I do not like him,” Felix cut in.

“Well, you never shut up about him,” Ellen said.

“Because he’s annoying!” Felix shot his hands in the air. He spoke like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Yeah,” Ellen said, clearly not believing him, “and because you’ve had a crush since year 8. While you’re on that, could you ask him if Mia’s into girls for me?”

 **Step Four - Integrate into the Group**  
Felix hated to say it, but Sam was really growing on him. He felt that little baby crush he had in year 8 start to resurface. Or more like, force it’s way up from the deepest crevices of Felix’s mind where he had pushed it down and kept it. And it hurt, because he knew it was all a joke.

Until they finished their portraits Felix still had to sit with Sam in art. He refused to talk to him, focused only on angrily scribbling his outline in charcoal. Mrs. Smith said something about how powerful his piece felt, but maybe add some colour? He ignored her. Sam was now adding watercolour to his, and blabbing the entire time about this, that, or the other. Felix wouldn’t respond (save for a snarky comment he couldn’t resist) but he couldn’t help but listen. Even when he stuck his earphones in, he left one ear open.

He told himself that’s as far as he’d let himself go.

Surprise, surprise, Sam showed up again outside the Mexican Food Truck. Felix started to suspect he’d ran out of money because he returned to skating around and showing off instead of talking to Felix directly.

Sam liked the feeling of the wind combing through in his hair. Leaving his helmet at home was the perfect idea, the wind ruffled his hair out of his face and he knew damn well it looked good. He kept stealing glances at Felix, who was busy reading something in the back on the truck. Sam almost lost balance staring at the way his hair fell over his face when he tipped his head down to read, his skateboard slid to the left and he had to thrust his arms out to save himself from falling. He glanced up at Felix again to make sure he didn’t see before he turned his attention to the road.  
Someone’s wheelie bin had tipped over into the road. Sam started to jump over it, tried to grind on it but it moved too easily, just practiced some basic kickflips and ollies. He made the mistake of looking over to Felix again. He was leaning out the window this time, watching him, and the sun was hitting him just right. He was resting on his arms, one hand gripping his other wrist, his eyes following him intently. Sam’s heart skipped a beat and his board hit the bin and his head hit the ground.

He heard Felix shout “shit” and run over to him. Then he was being pulled up by the underarm. Sam blinked the white spots out of vision while Felix led him to the back of the truck and sat him down. The back of Sam’s head ached and it was pounding alongside his heartbeat. He squeezed his eyes shut and groaned. Something cold was pressed against the back of his head. Felix had grabbed an ice bag and was currently holding it against his bruise.

“You alright?” he asked.

Sam would have nodded but he knew that would only make it worse. “Just a bump,” he said quietly and he squinted his eyes open.

Felix’s face was right in front of his. Inches away, yet again. Sam caught his breath and shot his hand back to the ice pack. Felix let it go and sat down next to him. Sam instantly missed the closeness.

“I thought you were meant to be good at skateboarding,” Felix joked.

“Yeah, not one my best days,” Sam moaned. “Hey, I’m sorry about your shirt.”

Felix frowned. “No, I’m sure it was very funny,” he said stiffly.

“It was an accident!” Sam said. “I really didn’t mean to.”

Felix shook his head. “Why are you doing this?” he spat. Sam blinked a couple times, taken aback. “I don’t understand. Is it supposed to be funny? Do you go back to your mates and laugh at them about how you were nice to the freak today? What is this?”

“No!” Sam defended in horror. “I don’t! I’m being nice because I like you!”

“You what?”

“I think you’re cool,” Sam adjusted the ice bag. “And kind of pretty. And I wanted to talk to you more.”

Felix spoke in disbelief. “So you skateboarded outside Phoebe’s food truck?”

“Yes,” Sam said, crushed.

“Oh.” Felix looked away. “You’re not messing with me?”

“No,” Sam said firmly. “Look, hang out with me? Us - I mean - Like me and my mates.”

“Jake Riles?” The look on Felix’s face said everything.

Sam panicked. “No, no, no. He’s not that bad anymore,” he explained. “Mia said he got a crush on Andy Lau so he’s trying to tone down the teasing to impress him or something.”

“Oh, great, that’s what it took,” Felix said sarcastically. He sounded almost exactly like Phoebe when he said it, raised his brows in the same way, repeated her tone. Sam had only heard her talk like that once or twice but the image was clearly reflected in him. Sam laughed. Felix looked at him, baffled, for a moment, then laughed too. “Alright Sam. I’ll give you a chance, but Ellen’s coming too.”

To everyone’s surprise, the new group slipped easily into a fine dynamic. Felix was tense around Jake at first but then he said something nice about his eyeliner and Felix warmed up to him a little. Sam could tell Jake was trying and he slung an arm around him in a hug. Jake pushed him off which caused the rest of the group to laugh.

Mia and Ellen took to each other immediately. Something about being best friends with a bunch of boys with no brain cells. Felix was happy to watch them get along. He knew Ellen would always be his best friend, but he also knew she’d like some girlfriends as well. And she seemed really happy, it warmed his heart.

They claimed two benches at lunch. It was the nice spot near the sun where the popular kids sat. Felix felt odd not eating his lunch in the corner of the cafeteria with Ellen. That was where they’d make fun of the people who sat here, mocking their speech or their outfits, pulling faces out the window. Jake trotted off and Felix poked at his sandwich, mum bought the ham he didn’t like again, and turned up his nose. He caught Sam looking and held it out to him.

“Thanks,” Sam said and snatched it out of his hand. He looked over Felix’s shoulder curiously, which caused Felix to turn around as well. Jake was sauntering back to their bench, Andy in tow.

“Finally,” Mia said. “I’ve been telling him to bring him over for, like, a week.”

Andy sat down and eyed Felix warily.

“Guys this is Andy,” Jake introduced lamely and unnecessarily, “He’s… good at science.”

“I’m good at lots of things,” Andy said. “I only tutor science, though.” Felix nodded. From Andy’s bag he caught a distinct whiff of chinese.

As if he caught him looking, Andy said. “It’s just leftovers. My nai nai always gives me way too much for lunch.” He spun the bag to face Felix for him to rifle through.

“You got Lemon Chicken?” he asked, peeking into the plastic bag.

Andy selected a plastic container and slid it over to him. “That’s not even real chinese.”

Felix started to notice little butterflies whenever Sam would talk to him. And what felt like a tornado of butterflies whenever Sam would so much as brush his arm accidentally. Ellen always gave him a look whenever that happened, like it was written across his face and she had to keep herself from laughing at him. It was not uncommon for Sam to ask Felix a question and for Felix’s head to be so full of fluff he didn’t even hear it.

Sam was no better. What was usually a smooth talking, flirtatious loverboy turned into a babbling mess around Felix. He dropped pretty much anything he was holding if he so much as smiled at him. Jake watched as Sam wrote his and Felix’s initials in the margin of his paper in Science. He sat his elbow on the desk in an attempt to cover what he was doing which, naturally, made Jake want to snoop. When he spied his paper he had to bite his tongue. He also watched Sam scribble them out before handing his paper in to Bates and he watched Bates collect it with a tired sigh, eyes dragging down the margin.

And they were both so dense. It was driving them up the wall. Even Jake and Andy! Being forced to sit and watch two idiots try to communicate with each other was going to drive Ellen mad and she knew Mia, Jake, and Oscar felt the same. Oscar was only receiving one side of it and it was still vexing him!

“If I have to listen to Sam talking about how great Felix is one more time,” Jake said.

“You didn’t have to listen to Felix rave on about him for an hour last night. I feel bad for Oscar, he’s living with that,” Ellen challenged. “It’s all, Sam this, Sam that. “He'd never like me back though!”” she put on a high pitched voice to mock Felix, waving her head from side to side. Jake snickered.

“Was he this bad when he had a thing for me?” Mia asked Jake.

“No offense,” Jake started, “but no. He was bad but at least he got it over with quickly and actually asked you out.”

“Like you have with Andy?” Ellen said with a sickly sweet tone. She smirked.

Jake shoved her playfully. “Shut it,” he said.

 **Step Five - Success**  
Sam Sat down heavily next to Jake. “I really like him,” he complained.

“Just ask him out,” said Mia, utterly done, “it’s not that hard.”

“Yes it is,” Sam whined. He tipped back in his chair and rocked on the back legs, face in his hands.

“No, it’s not,” Mia insisted. “That’s what I did and now I have a girlfriend,” she faked surprise and spread out her hands.

Jake almost choked on his drink. He coughed and spluttered for a moment before recovering. “What? Who?”

“Ellen.”

“How?”

“I just _asked_.”

“You can do that?” Sam said dumbly.

Mia sighed, thoroughly irritated. “Just ask him out.”

“What’s the worst that could happen?” asked Oscar. He was staring Felix down, who had taken to dramatically flopping around on his bed, face shoved into his pillow.

Felix rolled over. “Uh, he says no, we stop being friends, and I’m getting bullied again?” he suggested.

Oscar raised an eyebrow. “That’s not going to happen.”

“It might!” Felix somehow sounded offended. As if the notion that things might go okay was an insult to his character.

“You’re being unrealistic,” Oscar argued. “He obviously likes you. He was flirting with you!”

“Yeah ages ago!” Felix argued back.

“Last week!” Oscar threw his hands up in frustration. “You’re impossible!”

\---

Sam dragged his feet down the street. He was carrying his skateboard instead of riding it, drawing out as much time as he could. Each step made his stomach flutter. The smell of Mexican made him feel queasy. The hot sun beat down on him, he could feel it on the nape of his neck and cursed, he’d get a sunburn for sure. He stopped in his tracks when he saw Felix. He was leaning out of the window to hand some kid a taco. He had that fake customer service smile planted on his lips and he looked absolutely stunning. The sun was right behind him, he practically glowed.

“Hey,” he said breathily.

“Hey,” Felix said and it was the most friendly he’d ever been to Sam when stood inside the truck. “What’s up?”

“Uh,” Sam started. He didn’t know where to go from there. Felix bit his lip and shuffled from one foot to the other. He tugged at the edge of his shirt, it looked new. Sam picked his nails.

“Do you want to go out sometime?” they said in unison.

A beat, they both blinked, and then Felix burst out laughing. It was radiant, like a song to Sam. It took him a moment longer to process but soon he was laughing too. A tear pricked in his eye which he would swear was from laughing too hard and he wiped it away. He stared at Felix, taking him in. His face wrinkled with his smile. It was beautiful.

“We can catch a movie when I get off?” Felix offered.

Sam beamed. “Yeah, okay.”

**Author's Note:**

> Wowowowow okay I really really want this to be good. Thanks for getting through it! Please let me know what you think!


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